The War for Legitimacy in Politics and Culture 1936-1946 presents the first investigation of how the phenomenon of political legitimacy operated within Europe's political cultures during the period of the Second World War. Amidst the upheavals of that turbulent period in Europe's twentieth-century history, a wide variety of contenders for power emerged, each of which claimed to possess the right to rule.Exploring political discourse, state propaganda, and high and low culture, the book argues that legitimacy lay not with rulers, and still less in the barrel of a gun, but in the values behind differing approaches to "good" government. An important contribution to the study of the political culture of European history from the 1930s to the 1950s, this volume will be essential reading for both political scientists and twentieth-century historians.

Also available in hardback, 9781845204815 GBP60.00 (August, 2008)

About the Author
Martin Conway is a Fellow in History at Balliol College, University of Oxford. Peter Romijn is Head of Research at the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation (NIOD), Amsterdam, and a Professor at the University of Amsterdam

Reviews
A sustained, thoughtful and thought-provoking collective reflection on the political distinctiveness of the period between the mid-1930s and the transition to peacetime after the Second World War. * English Historical Review, vol 127, no 529, December 2012 *



Book Information
ISBN 9781845208219
Author Professor Martin Conway
Format Paperback
Page Count 256
Imprint Berg Publishers
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Dimensions(mm) 234mm * 156mm * 14mm